We now know that those who are doing final classes i.e. Grade Sevens, Form Fours and Form Sixes are set to return to school next week but what about the rest of the students? When will they be returning to school in 2020? Are they even going to attend classes this year? Well, the government has come up with a provisional reopening timetable that will see schools reopening in phases.
The latest 2020 school reopening timetable will be like this
- Phase 1 will open on September 28 (Grade 7, Forms 4 & 6)
- Phase 2 will open on 26 October 2020 (Grade 6, Form 3 and 5)
- Phase 3 will open on 9 November 2020 (rest of the learners which covers ECD A and B, Grade 1,2,3,4,5, Form 1 and 2)
Man plans God laughs?
If the phased approach sounds familiar it is because it is. Earlier this year the government published, then denied and then later confirmed a reopening timetable that made use of phases. The last batch of students was supposed to comeback to school in early September as per this timetable. Obvisously that never happened for a number of reasons but mostly due to the surge in cases that later followed after the announcement. This scuppered the government’s plans.
This time around the picture is a bit rosier but everything hangs in balance and there is no guarantee that things will work. Other countries that have reopened schools have quickly reversed their decisions after second wave surges in cases. South Africa and the UK are notable examples. Several states in the United States have also flirted with the idea but fear has prevailed. Add to that the fact that teachers are embroiled with the government in an acrimonious salary negotiation and you can only conclude that it can go either way.
So there is a really good chance this timetable will come to nought but we can at the very least expect completing classes to do some learning.
